Abortion advocates are worried that funding to support the movement is drying up nearly two years after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, according to The Hill.
Several groups saw massive bumps in funding immediately following the higher court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022, with some describing it as “rage” donations,” according to The Hill. Now pro-abortion activists are concerned that the issue isn’t galvanizing as much financial support as it once did, forcing some organizations to stop or scale back the services they provide after the “staggering drop-off.” (RELATED: Texas Saw Over 16,000 More Births Year After Passing Six-Week Abortion Ban)
“We noticed with any sort of moment that happens, whether it is a certain election, an introduction of an abortion ban, or in this case, the overturning of Roe, there is this immediate desire to like, make a contribution to abortion funds or make contributions to the movement,” Oriaku Njoku, executive director of the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF), told The Hill. “While we appreciate the rage, giving what is actually required to make sure that people can consistently get the care they need is that long-term investment in abortion funds,” Njoku said.
Abortion rights activists demonstrate in support of women’s rights on July 16, 2022, in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by RINGO CHIU / AFP) (Photo by RINGO CHIU/AFP via Getty Images)
On Jan. 17, just ahead of what would have been the 51st anniversary of Roe, NNAF announced that in the year after the Dobbs decision “abortion funds disbursed a total of $36,971,667 to individuals seeking abortions, growing funding budgets by 88%,” according to a press release. The press release then explained that after the major funding push, the money suddenly dried up despite more women calling for help to get an abortion.
Activists cited the lack of national coverage and the removed spotlight from the issue as part of the reason for the decline, according to The Hill. They also argued that because many states have passed or are looking to pass pro-life laws it costs more to help get women out of state to get an abortion.
Bree Wallace, director of case management at the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund, said that at first money was “just raining,” but then from 2022 to 2023 donations dropped 63%, according to The Hill. Laurie Bertram Roberts, co-founder of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund, said that at one point they were helping 20 women a week get an abortion but now it was down to two or three.
“No disrespect to the rage givers,” Bertram Roberts told The Hill. ‘They enabled us to get a lot of people seen before Roe fell. Thing is, is that now we have these harder, higher standards to reach to get people to care. And we have less investment.”
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